Cisternerne

Marina Abramović: Seven Deaths

14. March 2026 - 30. November 2026

A cinematic opera installation. 

Seven Deaths is a cinematic opera installation in which the world-renowned performance artist Marina Abramović stages death through seven of the most iconic female roles in opera history.

Set to seven arias sung by the legendary opera diva Maria Callas, the work unfolds as a visually sumptuous and lavishly imagined filmic universe. Abramović herself assumes the female lead, appearing opposite Hollywood actor Willem Dafoe. The result is a fascinating and deeply immersive narrative of love and loss, life and death, longing and suffering.Seven Deaths is a raw and powerful exploration of the fundamental conditions of human existence – identity, destiny, and the great universal emotions that bind them.

At Cisternerne, audiences experience the seven films as a continuous sequence with a total running time of approximately one hour. This marks the first time the work has been unfolded fully in time and space, in a staging created specifically for Cisternerne’s dark, subterranean chambers.

The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Det Obelske Familiefond, the New Carlsberg Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, Frederiksbergfonden, and Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond.

About the artist:
Marina Abramović (b. 1946, Belgrade) is one of the most influential performance artists of our time. Since the 1970s, she has challenged the boundaries between body, mind, and audience, creating iconic works such as Rhythm 0 (1974) and The Artist Is Present (MoMA, New York, 2010). 

Abramović’s work has been shown in leading museums worldwide, and in Denmark most notably at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art with The Cleaner (2017). In 2023, she received the Sonning Prize in recognition of her lifelong contribution to performance art. In 2026, she will present the exhibition Transforming Energy at the Gallerie dell’Accademia as part of the programme at the Venice Biennale. 

Abramović turns 80 on 30 November 2026, which coincides with the final day of the exhibition period.